Ohio Releases Names of Insurance Companies, Rates

Aug. 14, 2013 -- The Ohio Department of Insurance says health insurance rates will go up next year for Ohioans who buy insurance from the Marketplace.

Individuals will pay an average of 41% more and businesses will pay an average of 18% more in health insurance premiums when the Affordable Care Act takes effect next year. The numbers are based on rates submitted by insurance companies that will participate in Ohio’s health insurance Marketplace.

According to the department, the average monthly premium for the individual market, where individuals and families can buy insurance, will be $332.58 in 2014, compared to $236.29 in 2013. For small businesses, premiums will average $401.99 in 2014, compared to $341.03 in 2013.

Premiums will be higher for some people and lower for others in 2014, so it’s too early to predict what people in Ohio and elsewhere will actually pay when the law goes into effect, says Gary Claxton, vice president of the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation.

For the individual market in Ohio, 12 companies will offer a total of 200 plans for individuals and families. They are Anthem, AultCare, Buckeye Community Health Plan, CareSource, Coventry, HealthSpan, Humana Health Plan of Ohio, Kaiser, MHIC, Molina, Paramount, and Summa.

For the small business market, six companies will offer 184 plans. They are Anthem, AultCare, HealthSpan, Kaiser, MHIC, and Summa.

“That level of diversity is essentially outlawed under Obamacare, so Ohio’s rates and premiums are going up significantly, and going up more than in other states where prices were already high,” she says.

Claxton says costs will go up because insurers will have to cover more sick people and offer more benefits under the ACA. Subsidies and tax credits, however, will keep rates down for many people.

The federal government will operate the health insurance Marketplace in Ohio.